Mobile communication devices provide real-time capabilities for communicating with others. This includes communications by voice (whether digital or analog) as well as data communications. Some forms of communication available to a mobile device provide messaging so that, e.g., text messages can be exchanged between the user of the mobile device and others.
A typical mobile device, for example a smart phone, is essentially a hardware device which includes communications hardware for receiving and sending signals to a wireless carrier station, in addition to a processor in the mobile device on which software instructions can execute to accomplish the various functions of the phone. Mobile devices can be equipped with a basic operating system on which applications and utility programs can run to determine the features provided by the mobile device.
One common utility application that is provided on mobile devices is the ubiquitous “phone book” or “address book” utility application. This allows storing the names and phone numbers for a set of “contacts” that the mobile device user can call by selecting an individual contact from the set of contacts. Contacts may be called up on the device once they are stored by a user interface such as a cursor, or by speaking a sound (name) into a microphone on the device, etc. A user's contact information is usually stored on the device and/on a server in a contacts file, list, or database, and can be updated and edited by an authorized user.
Another application that runs on equipped mobile devices is a browser application. This is typically a compact program allowing the user to “browse” information available through the carrier's network, including some World Wide Web (“web”) sites that support mobile systems. A user can either select a site to view by typing a link into a user interface of the browser application, or move to a linked site on the web using the device's browser application. Such sites can provide dynamic information to interested subscribers, usually with payment of a fee to the carrier for the browsing function and service or with subscription to a site that provides the information to its subscribers. Users can “bookmark” a link so that they can return to that site easily by selecting from a list of bookmarks rather than follow a more cumbersome navigation or typing process to return to the site. Bookmarks are commonly stored on the device in a bookmark list, database, or file.
Phone book and browser information can be better stored, maintained, processed, and displayed as discussed below. Furthermore, better messaging and communication systems and techniques can be achieved using the concepts described herein to enhance the connectivity and usability of a mobile device and the services available to its user and others.